Cork, design and sustainability in the Museu del Disseny

Portuguese cork is one of the materials of choice for the exhibition «Toquem fusta! Disseny, fusta i sostenibilitat» (Let’s knock on wood! Design, wood and sustainability) organised by the Museo del Disseny (Design Museum), in Barcelona until mid-January 2023. In addition to a wide range of cork objects from the collection of Corticeira Amorim’s various business units, the exhibition includes a purpose-built house in the museum space based on sustainable solutions, in which the genuinely Portuguese raw material assumes an important mission. Cork supplied by Amorim Cork Flooring is used in the flooring and also the house’s interior and exterior insulation. The Wise Cork Pure flooring delivers greater comfort, more well-being and superior indoor air quality. The Amorim Wise range of flooring solutions have a marked negative carbon balance, and thus help combat climate change. MD Fachada - Amorim Cork Insulation’s iconic application - is used for the interior insulation of homes, and is recognised as one of the essential materials for the “green building”concept that focuses on the use of sustainable, energy efficient solutions, derived from circular economy practices. Light, elastic and antistatic, cork is also an excellent insulator against vibration, and is therefore a beneficial option for the construction sector. This set of attributes make expanded cork agglomerate an excellent application for various contexts, including facades. Based on that assumption, one of the exterior walls of the house inside the Museo del Disseny of Barcelona was insulated with the Wave product, supplied by Corticeira Amorim’s Insulation Cork Business Unit. The cork objects on display in the exhibition, «Toquem fusta! Disseny, fusta i sostenibilitat» (Let’s knock on wood! Design, wood and sustainability) include a chaise longue, designed by the American designer, Daniel Michalik, «stool» by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, a pair of «cork shoes» created by the British designer Jasper Morrison, a «cork bench» conceived by the Japanese educator, designer and author Naoto Fukasawa and a coat designed by the American industrial designer Todd Bracher. The exhibition’s collection also includes ASPORTUGUESAS flip-flops, items from the MATERIA Cork collection by Amorim, curated by experimentadesign and Nike cork trainers. It also includes a surfboard produced for the Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara as part of the partnership with Mercedes-Benz.

© Pedro Sadio & Maria Rita © Pedro Sadio & Maria Rita